Welcome to Vani

Back to the Present Time

We are still tired from the previous Comet adventure. We take an evening’s rest before deciding to head to Vani to look for the Nearest Broken Plot.

We debate how to get there, having no boat. Could we borrow horses? What about joining a caravan?

Managaratha says enough of this, and does math (with help from Scout)! He teleports us to “halfway” to our destination. Bamf, we’re somewhere in Orange. He does more calculations to find the final destination, and teleports us there. Bamf, we don’t move. Well that’s not right! He calculates again (again with help from Scout, although Scout thinks the math is wacky because it’s Orellian math), and teleports us to the halfway point. Then he does the calculations, and discovers the previous spot was where we wanted to be? He’s very confused, but one more teleport and brings us back to our first teleport location. Scout climbs a tree and finds a road.

Carol, who works in the Centurion’s household, is the biggest Goddess priest in the city. The Centurion is like the Mayor, typically a noble, but not necessarily, who is selected by the nobles and Guild masters. The current Centurion is a noble.

There are Guards at the gate. They ask our business. Vidan says we’re traveling, we’re here to get rooms. They seem to not care much, and wave us through. They wave a metal wand thing over us, it beeps and they seem surprised we have quite so many magic items on us. There are some Orange spells on the walls, Scout notes.

Inside the Vani Gates

We go to the Temple district, looking for the Goddess temple.

“How may I help you?”

“I’m Stella, I serve the Goddess, largely in Rinyan.”

“Oh, what brings you to Vani?”

“The Goddess told me there was a Broken candidate“

The priest’s name is Lucy. (That’s more of a Red name.)

“The thing everyone is paying attention to is who the Centurion is going to take as a spouse for the next few years, since her current spousal contract has expired.

“Carol is taking point on that, yes. If there’s a Broken plot involved with that, I expect Carol would notice it.”

Vidan goes to the Church of the Five. He authorizes himself to go in and then goes in. Is there a priest? There is, Valentino, a priest of the Nameless. Vidan introduces himself as Vidan of Zheldat, with the Middlesea Free Rangers. He wanted to check in as how things stand with the Temple, as he is in town for a few days. They are pleased to see another Priest of the Five. Are there not many? “The city is divided among its loyalty to the Gods; our neighbors to the north do not have the same difficulties.” Vidan gives him a Tarn evidence packet, and hopes for an introduction to the Centurion. Angelina, the priest of Navere, would likely be able to make that introduction.

8 successes on an Int roll to suss out the politics of the Church. Possibly Valentino outranks Angelina, possibly he has more DI. Vidan’s 12 DI

Scout notes that building over there is holy to Spirits. Ooh! He might have to check it out. A tall, older gentleman answers the door. “Hello, I’m Scout!” “Yes I see that. Would you like to come in?” Scout does, and has tea.

“It would be awkward for me to travel to Yellow, but if you need help in keeping that Spirit tethered to the world, I would try to help with that.”

“I have heard about that Spirit.

It was near here for a long time, a long time ago.”

“My understanding from what I read is that was difficult for it to be part of two Zones, so they moved it. After they made the Zones, as I understand the timeline. They made the Zones, and it spent the duration between Comets dealing with the difficulty of that, and then it was moved in the Comet after that.”

“We are not as appreciated as the Churches are, but no one will… well, maybe the Church of Rush… but mostly no one will try to accuse you of heresy here, or at least not one with the force of Law behind it. There are not many spirits in the area.”

Scout says we’re here hunting Broken plots, is there anything odd he’s noticed? No. Hmm, okay.

If we want Orange magic in particular, we probably want to talk to Mario or Piotr. Mario is the Centurion’s Orange Mage. Piotr’s a saurien who keeps the Lord’s house. The Lord of Earth and Fire? Yes, that is the person whose house it is. But no one using that title has been residing in the House since before Waldron was born.

Scout tells Waldron about the goblins-Breaking-Spirits plans, and that definitely concerns him. He can certainly keep an eye on things here and make sure none of them get Broken. He thinks that finding out how they’re being connected to Brokenness, and then having them stay out of the Broken Lands for a few weeks should do it. He’ll think about it. Possibly other Spirits could help? They have some relationships.

Waldron says he’ll be able to get in touch with Scout’s friend if he needs to. Okay then. If Scout wanted to learn more about Warlocks, is there somewhere he should go? No. Huh. Well, okay then.

Stella asks for a recommendation for an inn– the Steaming Cauldron is the one most people visiting the District. It has centaur accommodations, which is slightly unusual. She sends a note to Carol that we’ll be there.

We re-convene at the inn.

In Search of Broken Plots

Stella decides to Bring It, and finds out what needs Fixing in Vani. 19 Successes with 15 DI.

• There’s the thing you were originally coming to fix
• There’s the Slith thing.
• There’s the fact that the Lord of Earth and Fire is missing.
• It would be good to get Guildmistress Isabella back, when you can, but don’t go rushing to break Middlesea to fix that.
• Thistle’s in town, you might be able to get information from her.
• It would be good for the Centurion to have a partner who is Good, not Junky.

Okay then.

Managaratha calls Thistle on her cell phone. She is snoring. He wakes her up by shouting at her. She says go away. He says let’s meet at the Steaming Cauldron.

Vidan goes to talk to Isabella. “Ah, you must be Vidan. Valentino said you would be stopping by.” He wishes to be introduced to the Centurion. Does he want it to be a private interview, or to be presented to her? She doesn’t hold court, per se. Making the contact is good. Ah, okay then. A solo interview, or with his companions? With companions would be good. Is he planning to introduce a suitor? Vidan feigns ignorance, and she explains. He mentions the Broken plot, and diplomatically wonders if there is a candidate who should be avoided? It’s unlikely that any of the suitors are Bent or Broken, although possibly someone in their retinue. But some of the candidates

The Church has no official position, although Isabella feels either Lord Viktor or Lord Leopold would be preferable to Piotr or Richard (son of King Richard). An alliance with Richard would see some resources going towards Red, rather than staying internal. Though she doesn’t think any of those are particularly likely to be Bent or Broken. Unlike in the succession plot we encountered in Red, there have been no assassinations to date. It would be difficult to assassinate the Centurion, it would be less difficult to assassinate the suitors, except maybe Lord Victor.

The Five are not treated with the reverence they are due, but they are respected. Is the Centurion crowned? She is both the Ruler and the General. Vidan strategically (and charmingly) rolls his eyes to see if that elicits a response. She is the only General in Orange that Isabella is aware of. The others don’t have Generals, but they also don’t have Rulers so much either. Vani historically has had more Rulers and fewer Merchants, but also they are closer to Red and its influence, and the fact that they are ruled by Kings rather than Merchants.

Vidan asks how things stand between the Church and the Rushian brethren? Things were somewhat strained in Red. The local captain of the Paladins maintains a separation from the Church, but there is a Priest of Rush in the Temple of the Five. But the Church of Rush does have separate agents who are not coordinated with the rest of them, necessarily. Vidan probes; it doesn’t seem to be a serious concern for her.

Other Visitors

Stella gets a note from Carol.

A guy with a dog says hello to Diomarche and asks why he’s in town. It’s that Red Mage with the dog Vakla, even if he doesn’t look the same (Bran).

Well he’s in town to keep an eye on Richard, is he in town for that? Maybe, there’s an unspecified threat. Unspecified, that’s… helpful.

“There are slith in town,” says Managaratha, “if you can find them. I’m Managaratha, have we met?” He’s a good tracker, he can probably find Slith.

Diomarche brings him up to date on the Breaker’s plans, and renews the talk-to-him spell that had expired.

Diomarche and Nesh are in the stables. Nesh is shaken awake by Thistle. “What do you people want?” We heard she was in town. “Usually there’s something that needs stealing, or is going to be stolen, but the Thieves’ Guild is silent. There’s probably suitor presents, but there’s nothing on the street about anything specific.” Something occurs to Nesh– Managaratha had mentioned he could analyze why she’s here. They could go talk to him. “Must we?” “Well, he can potentially find out why she’s here…”

Managaratha analyzes TiRinian’s spell. She’s here to see if she can find the thing that was stolen in the Centurion’s Household before it gets used. It’s already stolen, well, okay. She can spend a few nights casing the joint to figure that out. Scout asks if she wants to come meet the Centurion? “No. Why would I want that? THey’d see me, they’d know my name, or at least my fake name.”

The Next Day

In the morning there’s a note, “The guards are good, if something was stolen it’s either someone very good or it’s an inside job.”

Vidan goes to the Temple and asks Valentino if he can speak to the Dead. Yes, he has some ability in that sphere. Connection to the Dead would be helpful– his name, where he died, his body. Vidan can get authorization, if that would be helpful? That would probably help persuade him to give him the information. Being there would be helpful except it’s holy ground to the Twins. If it’s been a few months, we can probably wait a week or so. Vidan can arrange authorization that will help with the holy ground issue, and arrange for teleportation.

Is there anything Vidan can do for Valentino? He can make miracles go off on Holy Ground without interference? Well, yes, though not subtly. He’ll think about that.

Diomarche stops by the Rush temple. He reports in and asks if they have any information about the Centurion’s household/court. The Centurion is local head of government. She has two children who are just coming into their 20s; they are heirs to her House, House Horellan (“House Horellan!” says Tom), but not to the position of Centurion. That’s assigned by the nobles upon her death. She commands the Legion. She has an array of Captains and Sergeants in her Legion. It’s nearly exclusively infantry, but has a Mage corps, the head of which is Mario. She has a priest of the Goddess in her household, Carol, and no Priests of the Five, although she does consult with Angelina and Captain Antonio fairly regularly. They do think the local military is better trained than you might have thought from the guys at the gates, and they’re moderately active. She keeps it busy, either along the border to the north, or off into the desert to the east (bandits). She sometimes puts legionnaires onto boats to trick pirates into attacking.

Guildmaster Mikaeli is pushing hard to replace Lord Leopold (Isabella’s younger brother) as her consort. He’s been consort for two three-year terms. He would be the cinch if Lady Isabella was here, but she’s not, and it’s not clear how long she’ll be gone. Piotr is in the mix, which is surprising to them; he’s one of the local Saurian leaders, but the Saurians have not typically tried to move in on the political sphere that way. Richard IV is here and is a total wild card. Why would he be here, he’s not Vani at all. They’re not clear about the politics there. Lord Victor is the head of House Mikeli, he’s a Guildmaster, they don’t have dirt on him (or on anyone really for that matter). Of the four of them, they think Richard has the most military background, but he’s not from Vani, so… they’re not sure how to feel about that.

How do country turns work in Orange? Oh. Well. Vani, Rinyan and Kor all get draws fairly regularly. Their stats are not very fixed, and there’s a sub-game in which the three cities are fighting over the stats and what the draws are. THey blame Navere for this.

Purple gets a draw for the Military, which goes between Minister of War and the Head Stallion; the Church gets a draw which goes between Tam and Tem (and sometimes Balance?) and one for the Bureaucracy.

Meeting the Centurion

We’re on the list. It’s more like a large office than a throne room. There’s a line, there’s a large desk-y thing, people going up to it in order. Nesh overhears a conversation from a Saurien inviting the Centurion to dinner at the Lord’s House tomorrow night.

We get to the front of the line, Vidan introduces us as the Middlesea Free Rangers, we give her the Tarn Evidence Packet including the Breaker’s Plots. She is happy to receive that, she inquires about Isabella, and Vidan conveys his knowledge of her. It’s not as impressive as the Foreign Minister in Purple, but she’s clearly good. Managaratha asks if it’s time to ask about stolen things; she raises an eye. Vidan leans in and says we’ve heard from the Goddess that something was taken that should be recovered before it is used.

People in the office are working, not chatting, but they’re polite. There’s some Orange magic going on, but not major. There’s something Goddess-y secret-keeping going on, that’s established and long-germ– it’s hard to get secrets out of this room, maybe.

Nesh looks around. This is a well-defended building, with more guards than most places. It would be hard to sneak in here, you’d need multiple good Stealth rolls in short succession, so you wouldn’t be able to rely on fortune. The guards have marked Nesh as particularly sketchy.

Managaratha calls Mario. He sets up an appointment for lunch tomorrow, at the Pig in a Top Hat.

The Lord’s House

More of a mansion than an office building, it’s set up a bit like a museum and is open to the public. Which is not standard for any of the other countries we’re from. There’s centuries-old furniture. Stella thinks some of it has been repaired or replaced over the years, but it’s all maintained to high quality. Not much wear an tear, it’s all expensive, and well-made. There are surprisingly few defenses, although maybe it’s hard to sell if you stole it? It’s not jewels, it’s very specific. The building itself is well-engineered, and it might be original for several hundred years. Scout thinks this building has schticks on it. Maybe Orange-ish, but not magic per se.

Managaratha talks to Piotr.

“I understand the Lord is missing?”

“That would imply that he is supposed to be here, and I am not certain that is true.  If the Goddess wants you to look for him, then you may have more information on that than I do.”

“I am not sure that would be advisable with the Buccaneer.”

“Oh, very good, most people wouldn’t notice that.”

“I am the Keeper of the Lord’s House.  But perhaps you would start at the Library.”

He doesn’t need any immediate assistance. He’d be willing to help us if there’s something specific we need.

We go to the Saurian Library, because Nesh thinks he’ll get help. Vidan does some research on the line of the Lords. The title is for the most powerful Orange mage. It is not genealogical; seems to be exclusively male, and always human, which is odd since Magic doesn’t work that way. The first did not have a name. The last one, listed about 100 years ago, went on a trip to Undisclosed Locations, and did not return. There was some discussion for a while whether it was time to pick a new one or not, how long do we give him to come back. How does the Lord get chosen? 10 successes with Succession Law and Research– does Vidan want to spend a DI? Yes. More than one DI? Yes. All right.

One is the Lord of Fire and Earth, in much the way that Nesh is the Buccaneer– the title just appears on you . There’s some discussion of likely candidates, but who the next one is has nothing to do with that. It just transfers to the next Lord. It has done so, multiple times (at least twice) since the Lord vanished 100 years ago. The current Lord of Fire and Earth is Carlo Picanti.

Nesh does some basic research. It was definitely the war they fought against each other. It seems unlikely that either side was the Breaker’s side; the war was the Breaker’s. The war did a lot of damage to the landscape; that’s when the landbridge between Kor and Kern was created, the New River was created.

Managaratha thinks about the names. The Lord Captain Commander. The Admiral. The Centurion is a title from that Comet. Then, there were titles and there were no names. That part of the mechanic doesn’t seem to be in effect now. Managaratha thinks it was more Purple magic than Nameless.

When we get back to the inn from the Commandant saying that Mario has had a dagger stolen, and a note from Leopold asking us to breakfast tomorrow.

Loot

• + 10 EPs
• + 10 SPs